sizing the sweet

03-30-2012, 11:56 PM

Hi guys as the name suggests from the sunshine coast, so need a board that will tame our near year round slop from moffat's to noosa and the beachie's in between, im am intermediate surfer 6'2 92kg, looking at sweet potato inbetween 5"6 and 5"10, just looking for some advice on size, and quad fin suggestions, prefer to go as small as possible, but still want to float my generous frame. I want a board that paddles in early, but can still throw around and still use if it gets 3-4ft and sucky, should i be looking at the potatonator/ baked instead, Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Check out cuttlefishes thread in the potatonator section "small wave assasinator". He s a big unit from your area who wrestled with same dilema, very informative......rumour has it he's not a bad bloke either:)

The other option is to demo from your local shop or from firewire hq in currumbin.

Comment

I'm exactly your weight, height and an intermediate surfer and 5'8 is perfect for small slop. You catch anything. I demoed 5 10 and felt too big. I use pc7 fronts and shaper quad e rears and that works well. Took some time to get to that combo. Interestingly I always hated pc7s in other boards but they feel perfect in the potato.

Aw shucks...
I'm old too...49 so that's why I'm using the 6' spud.
But It's proved to be a great choice for "The bluff" and "the corner" in the last week.
I agree with magnet most will be happy on the 5'8" spud.
But if I'm surfing low tide M'dore beachies I'm riding the p'nator 6'2" if there's any size.
If you're younger you could easily use the 6' p'nator.
It will handle the steeper drops easily whereas the spud will get sketchy with it's flatter rocker but is great when the (high tide) beachbreaks are backing off after the takeoff and you need glide through the fat sections into the shorey.
All I take in my car now are the spud and p'nator and I've got "normal" conditions/size covered.
I'm running either EA blackstix Thruster fins or FAMT robbers (twin + trailer) in my Futures shod p'nator and Stretch PC quads in my FCS shod spud.
Hingy (Beachbeat owner) has his own 5'10" spud which you should be able to borrow for a paddle as he's got a crook knee atm.
Both Neil (Alex, Dickeys, Coolum surfshops) and Woodsy (Beachbeat) reckon everyone who's bought a p'nator is frothing over them.
They are both selling stacks of spuds but it's a board for smaller beachies or on the points like the bluff, Tea tree, and awesome fun at Johnsons.

Hi cuttlefish, thanks for the reply, i know this will sound crazy but what i'm hoping to achieve is reduce a 9" mal 7" mini 6"6 fish 6"4 and and 6"2 short board into a one, possible two board quiver. I regularly surf my home beachy northshore, maroochy beachies, perigian wurtulla, then moffats the bluff and when its mid week and not flys on sh#t, Noosa. Just wondering wether the sp would leave me a little short as a one board quiver, possibly the pn will be a better option, or the baked when its released. do you think the sp or the pn could be used as a one board quiver? Is the sp loose enough to go vert and reo? or is it just a carving board? i would be willing to let go a little performance ie (vert attack) if it will paddle in super early(but still be able to throw it around) sorry for such a bunch of mismatched questions,

Hi Suncoast,
I wouldn't want to have a sp as a one board quiver.
It's loose allright. The thing about the sp is the effortless speed you can get on even flat faced waves due to it's width and especially because of it's wide tail.
But it will go vertical with ease though the flat rocker can mean you need to be careful coming back down the face if the wave is hollow. Cutbacks are a joy on it.
The p'nator definitely has more scope in how you can ride it and will handle a much wider range of conditions. I'd happily ride it at Yaroomba, Pitta and Wurtulla but I wouldn't want to trying to make drops like you can get there with the sp.
The big thing in the p'nator's favour for my pick as a more versatile board is it's 5 fin options.
Quad, quad + knubster, twin + trailer, thruster. Different set ups for different wave types and sizes.
The sp is quad only.
Really like to have them both.
I could have happily been riding the p'nator only but curiousity got the better of me and once I worked the sp out it was a two board quiver for the car.
Trying to squeeze all those boards you've listed into one board is a brutal task and I'd be looking at both the p'nator and the sp.
As far as the baked potato goes I still think it would not be a great weapon of choice in the more hollow beachbreaks we know.

Thks for all the replys. Have decided to go with the sp as i have other shortboards for the larger days, just hung up on size....i know what a shock. At 6'2 95kg's all idications point to 5"10 5'8, but as everyone suggests dropping a size is the go, cuttle, im going to need this board to work at moffats, bluff and noosa, in your expert sun coast sp/pn opinion, would dropping to 5'6 be a wise idea? or is 5'8 or 5"10 a better idea? with regard to paddlepower v ripability

Hi Suncoast,
I wouldn't want to have a sp as a one board quiver.
It's loose allright. The thing about the sp is the effortless speed you can get on even flat faced waves due to it's width and especially because of it's wide tail.
But it will go vertical with ease though the flat rocker can mean you need to be careful coming back down the face if the wave is hollow. Cutbacks are a joy on it.
The p'nator definitely has more scope in how you can ride it and will handle a much wider range of conditions. I'd happily ride it at Yaroomba, Pitta and Wurtulla but I wouldn't want to trying to make drops like you can get there with the sp.
The big thing in the p'nator's favour for my pick as a more versatile board is it's 5 fin options.
Quad, quad + knubster, twin + trailer, thruster. Different set ups for different wave types and sizes.
The sp is quad only.
Really like to have them both.
I could have happily been riding the p'nator only but curiousity got the better of me and once I worked the sp out it was a two board quiver for the car.
Trying to squeeze all those boards you've listed into one board is a brutal task and I'd be looking at both the p'nator and the sp.
As far as the baked potato goes I still think it would not be a great weapon of choice in the more hollow beachbreaks we know.

Sorry,
hadn't noticed the posts on this thread.
You could go for either the 5'6" or the 5'8" with no problems.
All depends upon how much foam you're comfortable with.
There's a 5'6" fst on Ebay at the moment btw which could be worth bidding on.
If it was a 5'8" I'd be all over it. Take into account though I'm 49 and highly adapted to plenty of foam hence my 6'er.
That way you can see if it works without the extra expense of buying a new one.
If it doesn't have enough float then sell it off and move up a size.
The overwhelming trend for sweet potatoes is to downsize though.
My 6'er is brilliant out at the corner and the bluff in the 3-4' waves we've had these last two weeks. Haven't surfed Noosa on it yet.
I've got my eye out for a 5'8" to try because I reckon the 6'er has more foam than necessary to tap into weaker smaller waves and I'm pretty sure getting more of my board and body in the water (within reason) will help me tap into smaller waves energy better.
Ilike to keep my smaller wave boards around 42-44 litres so I'm floating around lower rib area with board level in the water.
Sitting too deep in the water does my head in...but that's just me.
The shorter length will of course be better in whipping it around faster too.
Have you contacted the beachbeat crew about riding the 5'10" of Hingy's yet?
That really should help you decide.